


Balsa's Defender

by feriowind



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Additional characters to be added at a later date, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Aromantic Gon, Asexual Gon, Fairy Tale Elements, Gon as Gon-san, M/M, Queerplatonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-14 15:50:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4570344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feriowind/pseuds/feriowind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gon disappears the day he gives everything up, and Killua mourns, believing him to be dead. </p><p>7 years later however, reports begin surfacing of a strange, long haired man in the Balsa Islands, and Killua is compelled to return to the place where his life ended and started anew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I came up with this slight magical realism/fairy tale AU around a week ago (http://feriowind.tumblr.com/tagged/balsa's-defender) or so since I just really enjoyed the idea of Gon-san as a princess type character awaiting Killua to rescue him haha.
> 
> This is also my 2nd attempt at writing fic in the past 10 years or so, so forgive me if the writing is odd anywhere. 
> 
> I'm gonna be doing my best to write as much of this as I can, though please bear with me if updates are erratic. I have not done any long-term projects in awhile, and I have, admittedly, not planned out the entirety of this story yet.
> 
> Many thanks to cloudcraft (and also my sister) for beta-reading and feedback!

“I’m sorry, but I have to kill you.”

 

Pitou’s words ring loudly in the dead air of the room, and Gon stares, uncomprehending.

 

Kill me?

 

Kill.

 

Me?

 

The words sink in slowly, and he feels himself sinking as well as the words register in his mind.

 

_Kill me?_

 

A deep yawning darkness swallows Gon up and he is drowning.

 

His once hollow body drinks in the poison of his thoughts and he is dragged down as rage and despair as he had never felt before course through him.

 

Liar, Gon thinks.

 

LIAR.

 

He curls in on himself, fists clenched in pure anger.

 

I don’t care anymore. I don’t care I don’t care I DON’T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO ME ANYMORE.

 

LET IT ALL END.

 

Gon’s voiceless cry rings out silently, and Pitou simply stares unblinking, body poised to strike, not knowing the inner turmoil taking place within the scant seconds after their words.

 

Someone does answer, however, and it is a sibilant whisper that only Gon hears.

 

 _You would give everything?_ it asks.

 

YES, Gon responds, unperturbed by the alien murmur in his mind, EVERYTHING.

 

 _You would give all of yourself to me?_ it asks again. _For power?_

 

YES, Gon responds once more, GIVE ME ALL THE POWER I WILL EVER NEED.

 

 _It is done_ , the voice says, and Gon stands, staring down at Pitou.

 

_**Thank you.** _

 

\----

  
  
  


Killua watches and Gon looks back, aura shining from him like a sun. It is too bright and Killua can barely breathe at the massive surge of power pushing him away. But still he sees the apology on Gon’s face and his heart is withering at his own powerlessness before it all turns to white as he is blown away from the impact of Gon’s fury.

 

 

\----

 

When Killua comes to, it is to the sight of a fallen forest. It takes a second for him to reorient himself and another second to race back to ground zero.

 

What greets him there is…. nothing. There is only a crater, and no trace of Pitou and Gon to be seen. Killua stumbles back, mind reeling.

 

No, he thinks. _NO._

 

Killua whips his head around and desperately scans his surroundings. There is only destroyed vegetation and Killua is breathing loudly.

 

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

 

Pitou was supposed to heal Kite and then Gon would be happy and then they would all go back and

 

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

 

Killua’s face is wet and he collapses to the floor.

  
  


\----

  
  


When Gon comes to, it is to the sight of a blue sky. He looks unseeing and does not understand why he still _is_.

 

He lays there for several more minutes (or is it hours? he can’t tell) before he sits up gingerly and scans around him. He had been lying in a field of flowers, and it is unlike any field he has ever seen before. The flowers give off an unearthly glow that pulsates gently to a silent heartbeat.

 

“Ah,” Gon says to no one. “This must be the afterlife.”

 

The strange tranquility he felt disappears as a wave of guilt, shame and FAILURE crashes over him then. He remembers suddenly what he had done and failed to do, the rage and despair that had taken over him, and the look of devastation on Killua’s face.

 

I’m sorry Killua, Gon thinks, distraught. I’ve been a terrible, rotten friend.

 

I’m sorry Kite. I tried to help you, but I was useless.

 

Gon closes his eyes. Maybe he’d see Kite again and beg for forgiveness, though he could not imagine his words would be worth much.

 

I’m sorry everyone. I threw everything away and… I am sorry.

 

 _You are not dead_ , a voice that is everywhere and nowhere suddenly speaks.

 

Gon jolts out of his thoughts and looks around in surprise

 

_You are very much alive, Gon Freecss, and I do not intend for that to change anytime soon._

 

Several feet away, a figure forms. They are hazy and ethereal, and Gon has difficulty pinpointing any notable feature on them.

 

Gon stares (or tries, rather. Looking at the figure causes an ache to form behind his eyes and the base of his skull), still shocked into silence.

 

The figure cocks their head.

 

_Have you forgotten already, young Freecss, the promise that you made me?_

 

Gon’s mind is blank as he tries to remember. The figure looks disappointed at his response despite the haziness of their features that Gon can barely focus on.

 

 _You gave me everything you had for power_ , the figure says, and extends out their hand where a dull yellow glow starts to form. _And I shall now use all that you have promised as I please._

 

Gon gasps as he feels an odd tightening in his chest. He looks down and for the first time realizes that his body is not his own. A hand too large is clutching at a chest that can’t possibly be his, but it is rising and falling in a rising rhythm equal to his own quickening breath.  

 

“What…?” Gon breathes out.

 

 _This is your life_ , the figure says, and Gon finally sees that the dull glow is a clear crystal-like rock, rough and jagged and about the size of a chicken’s egg. The figure tilts their hand and it rolls off, and Gon watches at it slowly falls and hits the ground. The rock sinks strangely after impact, as if phasing through the floor, and leaves no trace of disturbed earth.

 

 _And your life_ , the figure says with a flourish, _is now this land’s_.

 

Gon still stares not fully comprehending. The figure gives a quiet ‘tsk’ before straightening their incorporeal body.

 

 _I am Balsa, god of these islands_ , Balsa finally introduces, _and you, young Freecss, shall serve as protector of these isles ‘til the day they are swallowed by the sea_.

 

“Ah,” Gon replies and finally realizes what he has done.

 

\----

  
  


After the King dies, a search party is formed to search for some remnant of Gon to bury. Killua does not go, because he knows they will not find anything. He had already looked.

 

Instead Killua spends nearly 2 weeks in a stupor, barely aware of the election taking place in the wake of Netero’s death. He tries for days to digest the fact that Gon would no longer be there when he woke up, would no longer tell him good morning, or goodnight, or that he was his best friend. The fact that Gon was simply….. no longer anything at all.

 

Killua wonders what there is left for him in the world when there is no Gon to tether him, and for awhile he thinks there is nothing. But then, he remembers.

 

Alluka.

 

All alone, trapped and neglected. He clenches his fists and chokes on the overpowering guilt he feels. How could he forget his sister, the one family that he truly loved and who loved him back?

 

Of course, he knows exactly how he forgot. Besides the events of the past month, Killua still remembers the needle he crushed to dust with a painful clarity, and his eyes harden at the memory.

 

There is still one person in the world who needs his help, and Killua will make sure that this time, he _will_ save them.

 

Life returns to his eyes as a fierce conviction grips his soul.

 

It was time to visit his family.

  
  


\-----

  
  


Gon isn’t sure exactly how much time has passed since the day he made the oath with Balsa. He had asked the god at first that if it was his duty to protect the island, then he should go and destroy the chimera ants that were currently running loose (and find Killua as well).

 

Balsa instead had shook their head and told him that by the time he awoke for the first time, the King and the rest of his Royal Guards had long died and most of the “outsiders” (which Gon assumed to be Killua and the others) had left.

 

The knowledge stuns him when he first hears it. Though Gon is glad they had succeeded in their mission, the fact that everyone had left leaves him feeling vaguely hollow.

 

Does everyone think I’m dead? He wonders.

 

Worry overtakes the shock however, because he has no way to find out who actually survived and who didn’t. _Is_ Killua still alive? Did they ever find Palm? Gon has no idea, but he doesn’t want to think about the possibility that they never made it back.

 

He attempts to leave, once, in his growing anxiety and need to _know_. Gon runs across the field of flowers towards the edge of the forest that surrounds the perimeter, but the moment he enters, he bursts forth into the same scene of flowers again. He runs into the forest several more times, but nothing changes. Space had no meaning in this otherworldly realm.

 

He thinks he should feel angry at being trapped, or at the very least indignant, but a weariness clings to his soul. To feel anger…. Gon muses that perhaps it would be perfectly fine to never feel hatred again.

 

Still, he confronts Balsa about it, and the god tells him that with his life rooted deep in the heart of the island, he will never be able to leave again. The islands are his home now, forever and ever.

 

It is his duty to stand guard, ready to move at a moment’s notice should Balsa ever command it, so be ready, the god says to him.

 

And so Gon waits in the strange field of flowers where time runs strangely, where seconds are hours are minutes are days, and accepts his new life for what it is in a body he still can’t quite believe is his own.  

 

He will, after all, be living here for a long, long time.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to cloudcraft and cptbloodcorsair, Z_Serpentriss, and PerspicAicious on twitter for beta reading and general feedback for this chapter!

 

The first time Killua hears strange news about the Balsa Islands, it is two years after the Chimera Ant incident. There are people who are unable to enter the Mitene Union, forced out by an ominous cloud that has covered nearly a quarter of the island. They say the air is heavy and suffocating, as if a giant hand were hovering over them, ready to crush them at a moment’s notice.

 

Killua takes this in with a dark acknowledgement. It is most likely a curse, he thinks, brought on by the millions that were killed. He is not surprised and files the information away. He is with Alluka, and the memories of that time are not one he cares to revisit any time soon.

  
  


The second time Killua hears strange news about the Balsa Islands, it is five years after the Chimera Ant incident. The god of that land has returned, they say, and he is strong. Invaders are repelled, criminals banished, and the people rejoice. It is the haven the people have always wished it to be.

 

Killua huffs in mild amusement. NGL’s dream utopia came true, good for them. Hopefully it isn’t a tyrannical god who enjoys toying with its believers, he thinks as a quiet afterthought.

 

Killua goes back to work after, because he has moved on and there are criminals he must hunt.

  
  


The third time Killua hears strange news about the Balsa Islands, it is seven years after the Chimera Ant Incident. The island that was once the Mitene Union has been declared a holy land, and people flock there for a chance to live in paradise. Most of them are repelled by the shroud that encases the island save for a handful who slip in.

 

But they do not stay on the island long as reports start cropping up of a tall, long haired man whose black hair flows skyward like a rising waterfall, appearing and forcibly, though apologetically, escorting each visitor back to the boats they arrived on.

 

Killua hears no further than that for a while because the memory it drags up knocks the air out of his lungs, and his mind seizes on one image. Gon, too old and too hurt, staring at him with tears and apologies in his eyes before disappearing in the explosion of his own aura.

 

It can’t be, Killua thinks, disbelieving. It’s been seven years, it can’t be.

 

….can it?

 

He knows the possibility is improbable. For one thing, what would Gon be doing working with a god? He was never the type to stay in one place for long. His longing for adventure forbade it. He wouldn’t spend his time guarding some island. It made no sense.

 

And Gon would not hide for so many years on an island and suddenly appear now. He wouldn’t let Killua think he was dead for all this time.

 

But still. How many men with long black hair that flowed skyward had ever lived on the island once known as the Mitene Union? The coincidence bites at him and refuses to let go, and Killua feels compelled to see for himself who this man is and if they even actually exist.

 

He just… has to make sure.

  
  


\----

  
  


Killua decides to leave after taking care of his affairs, which consist of only two things: his job and checking on Alluka.

 

His latest job takes longer to finish then he likes, which involves hunting down a man who had kidnapped and taken hostage the child of an anonymous client. He’s always been more motivated to capture criminals who would harm children, but the pressing desire to go to the holy island gnaws at him incessantly. Still, he has never given up on a hunt, and does not plan to start anytime soon.

 

After he finishes, he calls Alluka, who had long since left to study medical applications of nen under Leorio’s tutelage, and tells her he plans on taking a short vacation. She is overjoyed and tells him to enjoy himself. The last time he went anywhere for fun was when he still took care of her and journeyed with her around the world.

 

When they exchange goodbyes, Killua departs by airship to one of the isles north of the old Mitene Union where the repellent shroud has yet to reach. From there, he takes a private boat for the final leg of the trip (direct flights there have long been banned after several airships meet with accidents, though miraculously, no one dies), and it takes nearly an entire day of travel before he reaches the holy island.

 

Even from a distance, Killua can feel the crackle of energy on his skin. The power at work is massive, but Killua is confident that he’ll get on the island with little problem. Proficient nen users are capable of withstanding most supernatural powers, and though Killua has never been one to brag, he is pretty sure he’s somewhere in the top hundred nen users in the world.

 

The boat is forced to stop nearly a few miles off-shore to what was once the East Republic of Gorteau, and the captain apologizes for the inconvenience. Killua waves it off and simply asks them to wait several hours for him before activating Godspeed and dashing across the water.

 

It takes less than a minute before he first touches land, and another before he’s well into the forests that covered the island.

 

People weren’t joking when they said the air was suffocating, Killua thinks. There is a constant pressure in the air, and it reminds him of the aura of someone terribly strong. Whoever was doing this was not trying to hide at all and, most likely, was using the sheer volume of their aura to scare off any potential invaders.

 

Killua crouches down by a tree and concentrates, trying to sense the general location of where the aura is originating from, but it is oddly everywhere. He lets out an annoyed tch. It is most likely the god’s powers at work scrambling his usually astute radar.

 

No matter; he will just have to search the old fashioned way and scour the island for the mysterious long haired man. With any luck, Killua’s presence would end up luring the man out anyway, so a little running around wouldn’t hurt.

 

It takes less than five minutes of running before something finally tries to stop Killua in his search. He first notices it when the wind picks up before turning into a full blown gale. It nearly blows him off his feet, but he sinks his arms deep into the earth, anchoring himself to the ground.

 

The wind dies as quickly as it came, and Killua growls in irritation. Whoever is guarding the island will have to try much harder to get rid of him.

 

He gets up, dusts the dirt off his arms, and takes off running above the canopy. A constant series of snaps follow his wake as he leaps from tree to tree. Killua would apologize for all the damage he is doing, but his patience is running low and he has yet to forgive the attempt to throw him off the island. He nears the middle of the forst when suddenly, the air around him changes.

 

It feels as if he’s suddenly stepped into gelatin. The oppressive aura has lessened, but his limbs feel oddly heavy and his mind hazy as if stuffed with cotton.

 

“Gods,” Killua grinds out. Where ever it is he has entered, it is not the realm of normal anymore, and if he’s lucky, then he’s just managed to find the central domain of the island’s deity. Now they’d have to pay attention to him.

 

Steeling himself, Killua makes his way into the enchanted woods. A voice stops before he gets too far and hearing it freezes Killua in his steps.

 

“Please stop!” someone cries out. “Leave this island now, you are not welcome here! Go back, I don’t want to fight you.”

 

None of the words register in Killua’s mind because he can only think one thing.

 

I know that voice.

 

He thought he had possibly forgotten it over the years, but no. Though the voice is older, the memory is still crisp, and it brings tears to his eyes.

 

He is distantly aware that his feet have already started walking towards the voice, as if drawn by some supernatural power.

 

It’s him. It’s him it’s him it’s him it’s HIM.

 

The words go through Killua’s head like an endless mantra, and he feels himself picking up speed. Beyond the trees, a wave of powerful aura flows out; threatening, but not yet infused with killing intent. Killua ignores it.

 

He bursts through the trees and enters a field of flowers. They are unlike anything he has seen before, but he pays little attention to them, focused instead on the figure robed in white standing atop a shallow hill.

 

Long black hair flows like writhing snakes into the sky, and troubled brown eyes look at him. Killua thinks this must be a dream as he trudges through the syrupy air towards to the man on the hill because he’s sure he’s had one like this before, once upon a time.

 

Another wave of of aura surges out, and this time with a tinge of violence. “I’m warning you, please, go back!”

 

The only response Killua has is a reverent whisper as tears start to fall one by one down his face.

 

“Gon.”

 

The man gasps, alarmed, and his aura flickers wildly. His eyes widen, and the wariness disappears, replaced by shock instead.

 

A stunned, “Who…?”, slips out from him, but as soon as he says the word, recognition flashes across his face.

 

“Killua?” Gon chokes out, face twisting in a multitude of emotions. His aura withdraws and his hair settles down, draping across his face and body like ink.

 

For a moment neither move, breaths held and trapped in a locked gaze. Killua fears he will wake up soon, that Gon will fade away and he will forget him. His tears continue to fall.

 

Gon is the first to take a step, slow and hesitant, disbelief clear in his movement. His hands reach out awkwardly before falling back towards his side. There are so many things he wants to do.

 

Killua takes a step as well, body mimicking Gon’s of its own accord. There is a magnetic force between them, and their single steps turn into two, then four, before long Killua and Gon are rushing towards each other, hearts singing.

 

When they collide, Killua lifts Gon into the air with the intensity of his hug, and Gon yelps in surprise. It quickly dissolves into a fit of watery giggles and tears start to fall down his face as well. The two laugh and cry, almost hysterically, and refuse to part from each other’s bone-crushing hug.

 

Gon, with one arm still wrapped around Killua, gingerly reaches out and touches the side of the other man’s face.

 

“Am I dreaming?” he breathes out in a fearful wonder.

 

Killua laughs, loud and bright. “I should be the one saying that,” he tells Gon, who grins in response.

 

“It’s really you…. You’re so big, Killua!” Gon looks up and pats the top of Killua’s head, who now stands a few inches taller than him, even as an adult. Killua looks down and his heart tightens.

 

“And you look….” the same as that day is unspoken, but Gon seems to understand, expression suddenly wistful.

 

The look disappears quickly though, and Gon stares at him, excitement clear in his eyes.

 

“But, how- why are you here? I thought… I thought I would never see you again!”

 

“Why am I here?” Killua replies incredulously. “I thought you were dead! What are you doing here, kicking people off this island?” There are a million other questions that he wants to ask, all vying to come flying out his mouth.

 

“Ah,” Gon opens and closes his mouth several times, unsure of how to respond. Killua thinks in awe that this is the first time he has ever seen Gon this nervous and speechless.

 

“It’s… it’s a bit of a long story,” Gon eventually says, lamely.

 

“Well good thing I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon!” Killua huffs, still holding onto Gon.

 

Gon’s eyes dart around briefly. Killua has never seen Gon look so unsure before.

 

“What’s wrong?” Killua asks. “Can you not tell me?” His eyes harden. Maybe Gon has been placed under a pact that bound his will. It would explain why he is acting so out of character.

 

“No! No, that’s not… that’s not it, I just…” Gon’s grip on Killua’s clothes tightens, and his expression turns pained.

 

“I gave everything up!” Gon shouts. Suddenly, as if a dam has broken in him, words spill out, tripping over one another in their haste to escape. He tells Killua in a rush about the deal he made thoughtlessly with the god of this land, Balsa; how he was given this body in order to defeat Pitou; and how after everything ended, the god made him protector of the island.

 

“I’m sorry Killua, I’m so sorry. I left you there and I only thought about myself, and…” Gon looks down, ashamed. “I’m a terrible friend.”

 

“Hey!” Killua snaps. “You were a kid and you lost someone you loved, don’t blame yourself for what happened! Someone should have been there to help you.” At those words, Killua frowns sadly, his old guilt resurfacing. They had both been lost and confused back then, too young to know what to do.

 

For a while, Gon says nothing, and simply leans further into Killua’s embrace. Killua notices his shirt getting wetter but says nothing as well.

 

“Thank you, Killua…” Gon murmurs finally, and the relief in his voice is profound.

 

“I thought we agreed that friends don’t need to say thanks?” Killua says with a small huff of laughter. Gon laughs in return, wiping away his tears with one hand.

 

“I missed you so much, Killua,” Gon says, earnestly. “I thought… I thought I would never see you again, that I would never be able to apologize!”

 

Killua opens his mouth to interject, ready to say again that no apologies are necessary, but Gon shakes his head, cutting him off.

 

“I thought, for so long, that the last thing I would ever remember of you was when you tried to stop me from….” he trails off, lost in memory.

 

“But,” Gon shakes himself from his reverie, “you’re here now!” He grins shakily, face still wet with tears.

 

“I’m here,” Killua affirms, and strengthens his embrace.

 

“I tried to leave a few times. I didn’t… I didn’t know if you survived or not.

 

“But I couldn’t,” Gon says, staring at the ground. “Every time I tried, I came back. My life is Balsa’s now…. ‘I will be here ‘til the day we are swallowed by the sea’.” He intones, reciting a long remembered line.

 

“But… I wanted to see you so badly…. I missed everyone so much…!” He buries his face into the crook of Killua’s neck and stays there.

 

“I missed you too,” Killua says fiercely as his mind starts working furiously through the haze that clouds it. Gon had been—and still is—trapped? For the past seven years? Has he been alone all this time? How can I free him? Killua holds him as question after question runs through his mind, each one begging to be spoken. They are all drowned when he suddenly remembers something.

 

“Ah!” Killua cries out, and Gon’s head snaps up, alarmed.

 

“Kite’s alive!” Killua exclaims. Gon looks at him with a confused frown.

 

“He came back—as a Chimera Ant!” Killua explains hurriedly. “The Queen—before she died--had another baby, and that was Kite!”

 

Realization slowly dawns on Gon, and his mouth falls open.

 

“He’s alive?” he gasps out. “He’s… alive?!”

 

Gon puts a hand over his mouth in an attempt to stifle a sob, but it does little besides muffle his cries. His legs give out and Killua helps lower him to the ground, all the while holding him as Gon starts bawling into his chest.

 

“Thank you! Thank you, thank you, I’m so glad, aah, thank you…!”

 

Killua cries silently alongside Gon, and the two sit in shared sorrow and joy.

 

Gon is coming back with me, Killua thinks furiously, a surge of protective anger coming over him. God or no god, he’s leaving this isla—

 

Why are you still here? a voice suddenly cuts into Killua’s thoughts.

 

The two men jump at the interruption to their reunion.

 

“Wha—?!” Killua looks around wildly, aura flaring out instinctively. It’s then that he notices a figure standing behind Gon. The only details he can pick up are that they were short and dressed in earthen colored robes before he has to look away. Staring at the stranger is like looking into a blinding light; a headache starts growing as well as a throbbing pain behind his eyes.

 

“Balsa!” Gon rushes to stand. “This is my friend! Please don’t make him leave!”

 

The god cocks their head.

 

Friend?

 

“Yes! I thought— I thought I would never see him again, but he came back!”

 

Balsa is silent for a moment, but a wind starts to pick up in the field.

 

A FRIEND?! they suddenly bellow. Your ‘friend’ has harmed this forest! They are an intruder!

 

The god stomps once, and the earth trembles ominously beneath them.

 

Remove them, young Freecss! I will not have this thoughtless mortal plague my home!

 

Gon stares at them, eyes stricken. “Bu— no, I can’t, he’s my friend, please!” he stammers.

 

Rage bubbles in Killua’s chest at the fear he sees in Gon’s face.

 

“I’m not going anywhere!” Killua snarls and steps in front of Gon protectively. He tries to glare as well, but the effect is slightly ruined by the fact that he can’t look directly at the god.

 

A fierce bark of laughter is Balsa’s only response to Killua’s words.

 

Come, my defender! Banish this man, now!

 

Behind Killua, Gon lets out a strangled gasp.  

 

“Gon!” Killua whirls around to see Gon with one hand gripping his chest, breathing heavily.

 

“Go, Killua!” he manages to get out between breaths.

 

“What? No!” He reaches out to steady Gon, but the other man shakes his head furiously.

 

“No! Please leave. I have to… I have to take out all intruders, even you!”

 

“Tell me how to stop it! I’m not leaving without you!” Killua yells, growing panicked at the distress Gon is in, but Gon only shakes his head again.

 

“I am a part of this island,” Gon says, smiling sadly despite the pained furrow of his brow. “I will be here ‘til the day we are swallowed by the sea. Now please, go!”

 

Killua whips his head back and forth between Gon and Balsa before letting out a frustrated yell. Within a blink of an eye, he activates Godspeed and tackles Gon to the ground.

 

Gon lets out a surprised “oof!” at the attack, but his aura is already flaring out around him, protecting his body from all harm.

 

“The code is your birthday. I swear I’ll come back for you,” Killua whispers vehemently into his ear, and slips something into Gon’s robe. Immediately he leaps away and runs back to where he had come from, through the trees and to the mortal realm once more, all the while grinding his teeth in pure frustration.

 

To leave Gon again, after thinking he was dead for so long, is far more painful than he would have ever imagined.

 

I will rally every ally I have, Killua thinks, anger coursing through his veins as he lands aboard the boat he had arrived on, and I will destroy this island if I have to in order to bring Gon back.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I will try to post a new chapter once every week or so if possible (if I don't get idea-blocked on the progress of the story anyway haha)


End file.
